The interim boss was the subject of much criticism and abusive banners from the Chelsea crowd, whose dislike for the former Liverpool boss was only heightened by his explosive interview after the FA Cup victory over Middlesbrough, in which he targeted both the supporters and club hierarchy for their lack of support.

However, speaking after Chelsea's morale-boosting success over the Baggies, Cech claimed to have not heard or understood any chanting against Benitez, instead preferring to focus on their support and the team's performance in victory.

"I'm so focused on the game that I hardly understand what the people sing or shout or what they do," the 30-year-old told the club's official website.

"The main point is the people were here, the stadium was full, they were behind us, they supported the team and we won the game.

"We had a good performance and everyone seemed to leave the stadium happy."

Despite Chelsea's domination, the European champions simply could not add to Demba Ba's first-half opener and were in the end thankful to their goalkeeper for making saves from Steven Reid and Peter Odemwingie.

"Their chances came at the end because they threw everything at us and we hadn't killed them off," offered Cech.

"This was the story of the season a little bit. We had so many chances and Ben Foster had a great game. They survived until the 80th minute and then they waited patiently for their chances up front, they had to.

"But overall our performance was very good. Everybody was focused, everybody was concentrated until the last whistle."